


better than he can

by Finduilas



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 04:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30083565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finduilas/pseuds/Finduilas
Summary: Written for the anon Tumblr prompt:I would love to read a buddie fic where Buck becomes friendly with the new probie we saw in 4x06 (my head canon is that his name is Calix, but he could be named whatever you want) and Buck starts inviting him to all the big group get togethers like BBQ at Bobby and Athena’s and poker night and just all the things. Meanwhile Eddie is infuriatingly jealous and has many realizations. He’s convinced that Buck is flirting with the probie, and he finally just can’t handle it anymore and sort of explodes at Buck at one of these get togethers. And then obviously Buck clarifies that the only person he ever intentionally flirts with is Eddie because he’s in love with him. And then Eddie realizes he was being an idiot and they get together.Thank you to Gemma for the beta!
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 347





	better than he can

Eddie doesn’t like the new probie. The jinx has nothing to do with it because he doesn’t believe in that, no matter what the rest of them say. They just had a freak day, that’s all. But Eddie still doesn’t like the probie. 

He’d like to say that he doesn’t know why. That there’s just some sort of quality about him, and you just can’t like everyone after all. Or that maybe the probie - he can’t even remember his name - has done something extremely unlikable that would make it justified for Eddie to feel this way. Such as not liking Bobby’s food or… kicking puppies in his free time or something. 

Eddie knows why he doesn’t like him. It’s because Buck  _ does _ . 

Buck has taken a shine to the probie and the feeling seems to be mutual. Even though their shifts don’t usually correspond, when they do the probie runs after Buck like he’s seen the light. Not that Eddie can blame him for that, it’s just - Buck reacts the same way. He lights up when Probie laughs at his jokes, beams with pride when Probie  _ oohs _ and  _ aahs _ at Buck’s heroic tales. And then there’s the touching. Buck is a tactile person and Eddie kind of loves that about him. Buck makes it seem easy to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder, or bump arms together, or pull each other into a tight hug. Except now Buck seems to be doing that with the probie as well and it makes Eddie see green. 

Then there’s Maddie’s birthday party and Probie shows up as well because apparently Buck has invited him. And a poker night at Michael’s and all of a sudden Probie is sitting next to Buck at the table. 

Eddie grumbles something under his breath when he turns around to refill his drink only to see the probie walk into Bobby and Athena’s backyard like he belongs there. 

“Cal!” Buck calls out, walking over to the probie -  _ Cal _ , that was his name - briskly and pulling him into a bear hug. 

“Eddie?” Maddie asks, clearly not for the first time if the tone of her voice is anything to go by. 

“Huh?” Eddie snaps his head over to Maddie and Athena, who he was talking to before he got distracted by Buck and  _ Cal _ . 

“Sorry,” he mutters apologetically, subconsciously glancing over at the two men again. He misses the look Maddie and Athena give each other. 

“You okay?” Maddie asks, her hand now gently resting on his upper arm. 

“Yeah,” Eddie says, plastering a fake smile on his face, “I didn’t know Cal was coming too.” He’s not entirely sure the words come out as breezily as he hopes for. 

“Oh, I think Buck invited him,” Athena says, “But everyone from the firehouse is more than welcome.” She nods over to where Bobby and Michael are manning the huge barbecue. “Plenty of food to go around. You know Bobby.” 

Eddie forces a smile. Maddie and Athena go back to discussing a call Maddie took the other day and Athena responded to, but Eddie tunes out and excuses himself in order to go check on Christopher, who is playing with Denny and Harry. 

“You boys doing okay?” Eddie asks, ruffling Christopher’s hair as he leans down a bit. 

“We are, Mister Diaz,” Harry smiles politely. 

“You want another hotdog, Chris?” Eddie asks, looking down at his son. 

“I’m good,” Christopher answers, immediately immersing himself again in the game and his two friends. 

“Right,” Eddie says under his breath, suddenly feeling like the extremely uncool father who’s hovering over his son. When he looks over, he finds Buck alone and takes advantage of the situation to head over to him. 

“How many years do you think I have left before I lose all cool factor with my son and his friends?” Eddie asks with a smile as he sidles up to Buck. 

“That’s assuming you have any cool factor right now,” Buck teases with a grin, “Which I wouldn’t take as a stone cold fact.” 

“Ouch,” Eddie says, and he’s just about to ask Buck if he wants to go grab some burgers together when Cal walks up with two plates. 

“Here you go, one burger with all the fixin’s,” Cal says as he hands Buck one of the plates, “Oh, hey Eddie.” 

“Oh,  _ nice _ ,” Buck says excited, eyeing his burger hungrily, “Thanks, man!” 

Cal beams proudly and Eddie kind of wants to punch him in his face. He’s not entirely sure how he would explain that one to Athena though. So he goes to get himself some chicken wings and potato salad instead. 

When Eddie realizes he’s been staring angrily at Buck and Cal for at least ten minutes, he really wishes he didn’t have to drive himself and Christopher home so he could just drown his sorrows in alcohol. But he’s a responsible parent - and a responsible person altogether - so that is not an option. Instead he continues to torture himself as he watches Buck and Cal talk, laugh, occasionally touch each other’s arm. They’re flirting, Eddie is sure of it and it makes his stomach twist. The probie is flirting with Buck and what’s worse, Buck is flirting back. Eddie knows that smile, that sparkle in his eyes. Eddie’s thinking that maybe he has to rally Christopher up soon and head out because if he has to watch Buck leave this barbecue with Cal… His stomach twists some more. 

“Eddie!” Buck calls out all of a sudden, rushing over to him with Cal in tow. “Did you know that Cal used to live in El Paso too?” 

“Did he now?” Eddie says, aiming for friendly but not sure if he’s hitting the target. 

“Yeah,” Cal says, nodding, “Lived there for a couple of years when I was in high school. Then my family moved over here.” 

“Isn’t that a trip?” Buck calls out excited, grabbing Cal’s upper arm, “Wait, what high school? Maybe it was the same as Eddie’s?” 

“El Paso’s a big place, Buck,” Eddie says, really not interested in swapping high school stories with the probie Buck has a crush on. 

“Or like, maybe you dated one of Eddie’s sisters or something?” Buck grins widely. 

“I think there’s a bit of an age discrepancy there,” Eddie mutters, because he’s fairly certain that even if they  _ did _ attend the same school, neither Eddie nor his sisters would have attended it at the same time as Cal. 

“Eddie’s got some fun stories about growing up in Texas,” Buck tells Cal, seemingly unaware of Eddie’s mood. He swings his arm around Cal’s shoulder and pats him on the chest with his free hand. “And I bet you have some wild stories to tell as well, right?” 

Eddie huffs as he gets up from his seat. “I think I’m gonna go get Christopher and head on home.” 

“What?” Buck asks, confused, doing a double take towards Eddie. “Come on, it’s still early.” 

“Think I’ve had all the fun I’m gonna have today,” Eddie grumbles, picking up his empty glass from the table to go put it in the kitchen with the dishes before he leaves. 

“What’s the matter with you?” Buck asks, looking like an honest to god confused puppy and Eddie simply can’t take it anymore. 

“Maybe I just don’t feel like spending the rest of the day watching you flirt with the new guy, alright?” Eddie snaps, way too loudly. 

“Whoa…” Cal says, wide-eyed as he turns towards Buck. “I’m not - I mean, I’m sorry, but I’m not - ”

“Yeah, no, I didn’t - ” Buck glances over from Eddie to Cal, his hands in front of him, “I wasn’t flirting with you.” 

“Oh, ‘cause I was confused, man. I mean, with what you said,” Cal says, looking relieved and Eddie hates him a little bit more. He  _ doesn’t _ want to be flirted with by Buck? 

“What’s gotten into you?” Buck asks as he turns towards Eddie, for the first time today seemingly forgetting about Cal. 

“Forget it,” Eddie huffs, well aware of the audience they have accumulated around them, “Don’t want to get in the way of you and your new best friend.” 

“Jesus Christ, Eddie, are you  _ jealous _ ?” Buck calls out loudly and the few people at the party that weren’t invested yet in their little scene certainly are now. 

Eddie can feel his face go red and his tongue go dry. The ideal time to leave this barbecue would have been about half an hour ago, before Eddie made a fool of himself in front of all of his friends and their families. 

“You - ” Eddie stammers, feeling like an absolute idiot, “You were - ” He waves his hand vaguely in the direction of the damn probie. 

“I wasn’t flirting with him!” Buck says and Eddie doesn’t quite understand why Buck doesn’t just tell him off because quite frankly Eddie’s making a fool out of himself and it’s embarrassing. “You wanna know what we’ve been talking about? Why we’ve been getting along?” Buck looks pointedly at Eddie before he goes on. “Because Cal’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, but he doesn’t think he stands a chance with her because she’s gorgeous and suave and heartwarmingly sweet with her kid sister who she’s basically raising herself. And that’s something I can definitely commiserate with.” 

“Huh?” Eddie oh so eloquently says, because surely Buck isn’t saying… 

“He’s saying he’s in love with you, you idiot,” Hen calls out from somewhere but Eddie can’t tell where because his eyes are fixed on Buck, who is now blushing furiously. 

Eddie can only gape. 

“Now would be the time where you tell him you’re in love with him too, Diaz,” Athena says, deadpan. 

“He doesn’t - ” Buck shakes his head sadly, looking away from Eddie. He seems defeated, unbearably sad and it’s enough to jolt the life back into Eddie. 

“No, I - ” Eddie takes a step forward, reaches out to Buck, whose eyes snap back to his, a glimmer of hope in them. 

“Use your words, Dad,” Christopher - who has somehow made it to the front row of this spectacle - says with a smile in his voice, causing a ripple of chuckles along the crowd. When did he raise a smart-mouth kid like that? 

Eddie can’t help but smile though, because Christopher’s right. 

“My best friend is selfless and funny, has legs for days, and can light up any room with his smile,” Eddie says, a little self-conscious but if Buck can do this, so can he. “And I’m in love with him too.” 

Eddie can only see that sunshine smile on Buck’s face for a second before his hands are cupping Eddie’s neck and his lips are on Eddie’s. There’s cheering around them and Christopher giggles excitedly and Eddie thinks he can hear an ‘It’s about time’ from Maddie, but it all fades away because Buck is kissing him and that’s definitely worth making a fool of himself for. 

***

_ Fin  _


End file.
